Ian Paul

Ian Paul is a theologian, writer and speaker. Associate Minister at St Nic's, Nottingham and Honorary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham. Mac user and chocoholic. Ian Paul on Google+

Tradition and the contemporary at Christmas

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Perhaps the greatest challenge at Christmas is how to combine the traditional with the contemporary. On the one hand, how do we honour people’s expectations of traditional forms whilst ‘proclaiming afresh in this generation’ the truths of Christmas? On the other hand, how do we make an ancient story connect with the concerns and questions … Continue Reading

Preaching the infancy narratives

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In my previous post, I argued that we should be preaching at all our Christmas services, even when there are significant numbers of visitors. But can we find something fresh to say about texts that we know so well? The last piece Dick France wrote before his untimely death was a chapter in the volume … Continue Reading

Should we preach at Christmas services?

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David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, has done some research on the distinctive needs of occasional attenders who might come to Christmas services, but don’t attend the rest of the year. This appears to be an important group; I have noticed this year how many people are reporting increased attendances at carol services, and we saw … Continue Reading

Tributes to Professor Howard Marshall

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Many in the world of NT scholarship were saddened to hear of the death of I Howard Marshall (1934–2015) last Saturday after a short illness. Howard was professor emeritus of New Testament exegesis and honorary research professor at the University of Aberdeen, and he was widely recognized as one of the leaders of the second generation … Continue Reading

A vision for ministry and training

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Dr Jon Coutts is a Canadian who recently joined the faculty at Trinity College, Bristol; he blogs at http://thissideofsunday.blogspot.ca. I conducted a virtual interview with him exploring issues around ministry and ministry training, and I think his answers are truly fascinating. We have things to offer other contexts—but we also have important things to learn … Continue Reading

Same-sex marriage and the second Jeremy

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As most of the nationals reported (in fairly short articles), a second clergyman has had permission to officiate refused by the Bishop of Winchester, Tim Dakin, because he has entered a same-sex marriage. As with the previous case, this also involves a Jeremy. (What is it with Jeremys? Is there some nominative determinism at work?!) Jeremy Davies was … Continue Reading

Was Luke in error about the date of Jesus’ birth?

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Before Christmas 2013 I watched the film Gravity. The effects were spectacular, the photography breathtaking, the characterisations engaging, and the story held one’s attention throughout. It even raised some profound (religious?) questions about life, death and purpose. And yet, when I left the cinema, I could not decide whether I had enjoyed the film or not. For … Continue Reading

The kingdom and the common good

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In one of the presentations at the Premier Digital Media Awards I attended last month, the speaker used a phrase about his project which has stayed with me. A group of coders spent a weekend trying to design computer and phone apps that could be used ‘for the kingdom and the common good.’ I was … Continue Reading

Do we worship Jesus or the Bible?

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You don’t have to be involved in a debate about some contentious issue, and what the Bible might say about it, for too long before someone chimes up: Sounds to me like your worship the Bible! Shouldn’t Christians worship Jesus? The accusation is that, if you focus on what the Bible says, you are making … Continue Reading

Just war, theology and bombing Syria

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Discussion about Just War theory and bombing Syria last week mostly focussed on whether or not we should initiate war—though that was a moot point since we have been bombing ISIS in Iraq for more than a year. But it was assumed that we were considering the dimension of jus ad bellum, whether there was a just … Continue Reading